[Mpls] Opting out of military recruiting

[wmmarks]

WJKAHN at aol.com wrote:

>I'm pretty much dead set against military recruitment using any sort of 
>records other than a draft registry. 
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If we want to be smart and fair, we could institute a two-year national 
service component to our lives. This is everyone doing two years of some 
national service--army, civilian conservation corps, Americorps, 
whatever. Everyone lives away on a base or "quarters," in a place far 
from one's home, wears a uniform and, in general, does what is assigned 
24/7. Regardless of your family's wealth--two years. War or peace--two 
years. No one is exempt: male, female, undecided--two years. Genius or 
dummy--two years. Ritualize it as the premier rite of passage.

Then when world conditions are fairly quiet, MN gets more young hands to 
focus on specific  work, fewer hands to make mischief, a clear point 
where adulthood begins and childhood ends, a ritual to coalesce 
community. Maybe your job for two years becomes care giving to someone 
who, for reasons of profound disability only, cannot serve "actively," 
but could serve by learning to adapt to a different set of conditions 
while teaching mates how to deal with the other compassionately, but 
skillfully so as to maintain everyone's dignity. Some of the gains for 
kids could include learning, for the first time, to live away from 
parents while learning to rely on themselves in a largely unforgiving 
situation with a fairly rigid set of standards.

WizardMarks, Central

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